USA Today/Gallup, 7/27/11
As the debt crisis comes down to the deadline, a new poll suggests more support for President Obama than Speaker Boehner, despite unhappiness from the public all around.
USA Today/Gallup ran a one day poll yesterday (MoE +/- 4) and notes the following:
Republicans who support the Tea Party approve of Boehner's handling of the debt situation by 65% to 30%, while Republicans who are not Tea Party supporters split evenly, 38% approve and 40% disapprove, with the rest having no opinion. This difference is significant despite the smaller sample sizes involved, and suggests that Boehner is having more trouble pleasing the moderate and liberal wing of his party than he is the conservative wing.
No surprise there; the extremist House GOP position is turning the public off, and will hurt the GOP going forward. Most Americans (around two thirds) want a balanced budget approach that includes taxes and spending cuts. The cuts are there in all current proposals; the taxes may only show up when the Bush tax cuts expire. But Boehner's approach is not making him more friends.
Meanwhile, Obama (75) has more support from Democrats than Boehner (50) has from Republicans. Indies favor Obama 35-30.
Overall, while there's more disapproval than approval for everyone, Boehner is doing a terrific job of splitting his party, even if he's not doing a terrific job at anything else. Democrats remain relatively united, if not thrilled, at the current position from the White House and Senate.
At this point, the [Tea Party] group is the most supportive of Boehner, which suggests that he faces more problems from the moderate wing of his party than from the conservative Tea Party wing. The fact that as many Republicans who do not support the Tea Party say they disapprove of how Boehner is handling the situation as say they approve highlights his leadership challenges.
How that plays out over time remains to be seen, but one thing at least seems clear: moderate and conservative Republicans remain at odds on how to proceed.
USA Today/Gallup, 7/27/11